Surrey jobless figures below national average

UNEMPLOYMENT figures for households in Surrey are the best in the UK, according to the latest government statistics.

UNEMPLOYMENT figures for households in Surrey are the best in the UK, according to the latest government statistics.

The percentage of households containing at least one adult aged 16-64 where no one was in work was 11.2% between January and December 2010 – the joint lowest figures with Oxfordshire.

The figures, released yesterday by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), also show the percentage of all unemployed people in jobless households in Surrey was 7.6%, well below the national average of 13.5%.

Within the county, Guildford saw 11.2% households contain no workers, with Waverley at 11.3% and Mole Valley 8.5%.

In more than half of the Surrey households surveyed, every individual over the age of 16 was in employment.

The highest areas of unemployment in the UK saw around one in three households with no working individuals, compared with Surrey and Oxford's level of one in ten. Although the 41,000 workless households in Surrey was the highest in the south east, the county’s record of one in nine overall compares favourable with the worst areas in the country which saw unemployed household levels of just under 1 in three.

Chris Stanton, co-ordinator of Guildford Job Club, said he was pleased with the figures, but felt there was work yet to be done.

“It's great news to hear of the positive statistics and to know that people are finding ways back into work,” he said.

“Our target is to support unemployed people and to make the number of workless households even fewer, and we’re working on other ways to help do this.

“However, I am concerned about young people who have come out of education and university who are finding it hard to get jobs.

“Although the figures for workless households are encouraging, they may not show the whole picture.”

Mr Stanton also revealed that two new working clubs would be opened later this month at St Peter’s Church Centre, Bellfields, and Park Barn, Westborough.

The projects, in conjunction with authorities such as Surrey Lifelong Learning Partnership, Job Centre Plus and Guildford Borough Council, are aimed at building on the approach adopted at Guildford Job Club.

Of the 714,000 unemployed people in Surrey, the ONS data showed 10.1% lived in jobless households in Guildford, compared with 8.1% in Waverley and 7.7% in Mole Valley.

The figures also showed that 19,000, equating to 8.9%, of children in the county, lived in jobless households, with 4,000 in Guildford.

The ONS also published the reasons given by people for lack of employment, with the number one reason in Surrey stated as sickness and disability at 25.7%. This was followed closely by retirement at 23.9%, and Jamie Jenkins, an ONS statistician, said this was due to a higher than average rate of early retirement.

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She has been editorial director of the online and print titles in Surrey and north-east Hampshire since 2007. Marnie previously worked at the BBC as a producer for 5 Live, having moved to national radio from BBC Sussex and Surrey.